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Grandmothers To Grandmothers Campaign
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign exists to support the indomitable African grandmothers who are caring for the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Members of the Grandmothers Campaign share three goals. They work to:
- Raise funds to meet the needs of African grandmothers and the children in their care;
- Listen to African grandmothers, respect their expertise and amplify their voices, in order to promote authentic and substantive responses to the epidemic in Africa;
- Build solidarity among African and Canadian grandmothers in order to motivate and sustain the vital work of turning the tide of AIDS in Africa.
Canadian grandmothers groups are tremendously active in their communities. They put on concerts, organize card tournaments, and sell jewellery. They visit countless schools and community organizations. They bake, cook, sew, knit, paint, write, organize cycle tours, walks, and even ride motorcycles – all to raise funds and awareness for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To learn more about how you can get involved in the Campaign, write to Ilana here.
Articles About The Campaign
What started as a conversation around a kitchen table has grown to become a movement to empower women, especially grandmothers, in Africa.
The Grandmothers Campaign, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is known as Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers in Regina, which was among the very first places in Canada where women took on projects to support families in Africa.
‘We know the power of women’s organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.’– Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
As Ilana Landsberg-Lewis explains, the movement arose in response to the human crisis, observed by her father Stephen Lewis during his time as a special envoy for the United Nations, afflicting the African continent during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Millions of children were orphaned by the deaths of their parents. Their grandmothers were left to raise them, with little or no support.
Ilana Landsberg-Lewis is co-founder, with her father Stephen Lewis, of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. One of their main campaigns supports grandmothers in Africa. (Lisa MacIntosh/Stephen Lewis Foundation)
“Grandmothers were just in an agony of loss,” Landsberg-Lewis said. “Death was everywhere. They were left with no income and often isolated by the terrible stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS.”
Landsberg-Lewis recalled how requests seeking aid referred to the grandmothers as “caregivers” and when she asked why, she learned there was a strong bias in play.
“Nobody wants to fund them because they’re older women and nobody sees them as a meaningful investment,” she learned.
“We decided if Canadian grandmothers knew what was happening on the [African] continent then it would surely resonate with them and boy did it ever,” Landsberg-Lewis said.
“I wish I could say that I was prescient but it would be overstating it,” she said, talking about how the success of the organization, which quickly grew from a handful of activists brain-storming at a kitchen table (her own) to over 250 chapters across the country.
Since 2006 they have raised about $25 million.
“It was really extraordinary but I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said. “Older women in our communities, we know the power of women organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.”
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The Campaign currently boasts more than 240 grandmothers groups across the country. Many of the groups have organized into regional and national networks in order to support each other’s efforts in solidarity with African grandmothers and the children in their care.
Resources from the Grandmothers Campaign go to grassroots organizations that support African grandmothers with food, health care, school fees and school uniforms for their grandchildren, income-generating programmes, counselling, social support, essential shelter, and other necessities. Throughout Africa, grassroots organizations run by and for grandmothers are sharing insights, deepening their expertise, collaborating with other local organizations, and building their capacity to turn the tide of AIDS at community level.
Metamorphic Convergence – A Journey of Planetary Stewardship is a streaming film series that shines a light on the path from the present to the future, while weaving together regenerative solutions and fresh perspectives from artists, scientists, activists, authors and philosophers. Through poetic imagery, visual meditation and timely interviews – the series delves into how our environmental crisis is an opportunity for radical personal and planetary transformation. Artists and filmmakers guide us on a journey to reconcile what they perceive as a crossroads for humanity.
Join us for a monthly celebration of the ancient, mystical tradition of mantra music. Elevate your spirit and cultivate community through the joyous, sacred sound of kirtan at the all-inclusive United Palace of Spiritual Arts.
Chant UP with Gaura Vani is a monthly world-music experience of kirtan. It is true spiritual artistry – it’s about connecting to the sacred – whatever that means for you – through participatory performance art and the ancient practice of communal singing. Kirtan is a musical form of storytelling, shared recitation and call-and-response that opens the heart and allows a glimpse of the beauty that lies in our human and spiritual connections.
Come experience a celebration of music, spirit and community led by Gaura Vani. Raise your voice and vibration!
Join us for a monthly celebration of the ancient, mystical tradition of mantra music. Elevate your spirit and cultivate community through the joyous, sacred sound of kirtan at the all-inclusive United Palace of Spiritual Arts.
Chant UP with Gaura Vani is a monthly world-music experience of kirtan. It is true spiritual artistry – it’s about connecting to the sacred – whatever that means for you – through participatory performance art and the ancient practice of communal singing. Kirtan is a musical form of storytelling, shared recitation and call-and-response that opens the heart and allows a glimpse of the beauty that lies in our human and spiritual connections.
Come experience a celebration of music, spirit and community led by Gaura Vani. Raise your voice and vibration!
Join Rev. Arda Itez and Rev. Dr. Jose Roman for a very special Open Heart Conversation to explore the path of Bhakti-yoga with one of its most beloved spiritual leaders and NY Times best-selling author, his holiness Radhanath Swami, with music by Jahnavi Harrison and friends.
Introduced to the West as The International Society For Krishna Consciousness in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhakti-yoga has traceable roots to the 1st millennium, BCE. What came to be known as the “Hare Krishna Movement” developed into one of the most influential and important spiritual and social reformations in US history.
Sometimes referred to as “love for love’s sake,” Bhakti is one of the four yogic paths to enlightenment and the essence of spiritual perfection, which is to awaken ecstatic love for God.
What was it about the Bhakti tradition that inspired so many people to embrace it as their own?
Who are the Hare Krishnas?
What are the Bhakti tenets, spiritual practices and beliefs?
Discover the beauty behind one of the oldest, most well-known and often misunderstood spiritual traditions, and what led to his life of devotion directly from Radhanath Swami himself.
In cooperation with the WE-Energime-Global Cooperation Turtle Island International Civil Society Organization and in support of peaceful interfaith dialogue, especially in light of Laudato Si, the recent message from Pope Francis on “Care for Mother Earth”, Drawdown Markham will be assisting Global Cooperation Day (GCD, New Zealand) to Celebrate the 800 year Anniversary (in 2019) of the meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al Kamil in the year 1219 by planting a *Commemorative Tree of Peace* on a property in the East end of Markham (Locust Hill) on Sunday, September 15th.
This event is being done in support of the DD Markham CCAH Collaborative Exchange Project (CEP) and the “Spark for Humanity” project by We Are Mother Earth! (WAME) and GTI Enterprises (cooperative corporation), and for the eventual establishment of our “Go Local” Campaign for community resilience and adaptation, supported by our local Drawdown Markham Interfaith Neighborhood and Business Collaborative (which is part of the EncounterCanada collaborative, which is intended “to localize the Sustainable Development Goals to build ‘Climate Smart’ safe and sustainable communities and cities, pursuant to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction”).
